Performance of serological tests for Trypanosoma evansi in experimentally inoculated goats

Abstract

Natural Trypanosoma evansi infection in the Canary Islands has only been diagnosed in the camel population, but dissemination of the disease in other hosts has not been excluded. The objective of this work was to assess the performance of serological antibody tests in experimentally inoculated goats. Five Canarian goats were inoculated intravenously with at least 1 X 105 T evansi. The animals were kept for 8 months and checked monthly for the presence of the parasite and specific antibodies. The serological tests investigated were the direct card agglutination test CATT/T evansi and the indirect card agglutination test LATEX/T evansi. All animals became positive in the CATT/T evansi 1 month post-infection and remained positive with a minimum end-titer of 1/4. Similar results were obtained with the LATEX/T evansi, although at lower end-titers (1/2). We conclude that CATT/T evansi is adequate for assessing infection of Canarian goats by T evansi.